Extreme hypocrisy: BJP on Cong's criticism of activist Wangchuk's detention

If Rahul Gandhi has a comment to make, why (does) he maintain a conspicuous silence when cartoonists are lifted in Kolkata and satirist is jailed in Tamil Nadu, BJP's Ravi Shankar asked

The BJP on Tuesday described the Congress' condemnation of the detention of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and several other Ladakhis as "hypocrisy in extreme".

Wangchuk and more than 100 people from Ladakh who had marched to Delhi demanding that the union territory be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution were detained at the capital's border on Monday for violating prohibitory orders and taken to different police stations.

The Congress on Tuesday slammed the Centre over the detention of Wangchuk and others with Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi terming it "unacceptable" and saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to listen to Ladakh's voice.

Asked about the Congress' reaction, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar said, "I don't know the facts. I will have to check the facts."

"If Rahul Gandhi has a comment to make, why (does) he maintain a conspicuous silence when cartoonists are lifted in Kolkata and a satirist is jailed in Tamil Nadu," Shankar asked, adding that the Congress leader's reaction to Wangchuk's detention was "hypocrisy in extreme".

A Jadavpur University professor and his neighbour were arrested in West Bengal in 2012 for posting on social media a cartoon showing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

In 2017, a freelance cartoonist was arrested in Tamil Nadu for allegedly depicting the then chief minister K Palaniswami in an obscene manner in a caricature.